This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers.
We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government.
Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site
Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.

Pages

Index

Click on subject of interest shown on the right under the heading "labels" to see all relevant posts

To look at letters (and some replies) sent to politicians and newspapers, scroll down the index on the right hand side and select the appropriate heading.

Note the blog allows multiple labelling and all letters to politicians are under "letters to pollies".

If you scroll down and cannot go further, look out for icon "Older Posts". Click on that to continue

12.12.17

Newsletter for 12 December 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Next Roadside Demo -
Bellingen Thursday January 11th 2:30pm

Message of
appreciation

A letter from Manus
Island

Our open letter to
Shayne Neumann

Roadside
demonstration report

We had a terrific
turn out at the Big Banana last Thursday for our final roadside demo of the
year, and it was good to welcome a number of new supporters. We endured the
sweltering sun and the biting bull ants, and there was lots of support from
passing motorists. As always, there were some dissenters, but they were a very
small minority. We intend to keep up the pressure in 2018, with our first
demonstration on Thursday 11th January from 2.30 until
4.00 pm in Bellingen. You will find us on Waterfall Way, near the
Yellow Shed, opposite the golf club car park. Could our roadside demos feature
in your New Year’s resolutions? Please come and join us if you can.

A message of
appreciation

As you will be aware,
we have made significant donations to the Asylum Seekers Centre during 2017 to
support their work with refugees. They recently posted a note of appreciation
on their Facebook page, which reads:

“We would like to
acknowledge the Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca District
for the fantastic support we have received from them over the last year. We are
truly grateful for your work in raising funds and awareness for Asylum Seekers
Centre. This passionate community group has an amazing presence in the
community in northern NSW. Each month they raise funds for ASC through their
stalls at local markets......AND they have chosen to continue their fundraising
support for ASC into next year. Thank you!”

A letter from
Manus Island

Some of you will have
read the deeply moving article in The Saturday Paper by Behrouz
Boochani, who has been on Manus island for the past four years. His
account details the events of recent weeks, the peaceful resistance of the
refugees and the brutality that they faced when being forcibly removed from the
original detention centre to three locations in Lorengau. As Behrouz
says at the end of his article:

“Ultimately they beat
us down and with violence put an end to our peaceful protest. But I think
we were able to communicate our humanitarian message to Australian society
and beyond. This sentiment is what all people, whether in Australia or elsewhere, need
more that anything else these days. Feelings of friendship. Feelings
of compassion. Feelings of companionship. Feelings of
justice. And feelings of love.”

You can read the full
article on our Facebook page.

The open letter to
Shayne Neumann

Last week we finally
sent our open letter to Shayne Neumann, the Labor Shadow Minister for
Immigration, with 535 signatures collected at our recent market stalls. The
letter reads:

Dear Mr Neumann,

The Australian
government has clear obligations under the Refugee Convention and international
law to treat people seeking asylum with respect and humanity, to assess their
asylum claims in a timely manner and to resettle in Australia all those
arriving on our shores who are found to be refugees, regardless of their mode
of arrival. We therefore call upon the Labor Opposition to:

make unambiguous its opposition to mandatory
detention.

demand the immediate resettlement in Australia
of all genuine refugees on Manus and Nauru who are not cleared for
resettlement in the US.

commit the Labor Party to working with other
countries in the region and with UNHCR to provide alternative, safer pathways
to eventual resettlement in safe countries, including Australia.

demand that people currently held in offshore
detention who have close family members living in Australia be able to
rejoin them here as a matter of urgency.

The covering letter
to Mr Neumann can be found on our blog. The details were also posted to seven
Labor Senators and MPs, in the hope that they might raise the issue
with the Shadow Minister. This letter too can be found on our blog.